tag:www.gov.uk,2005:/government/ministers/parliamentary-under-secretary-of-state-for-education-and-childcareParliamentary Under Secretary of State for Education and Childcare - Activity on GOV.UKHM Government2015-03-01T10:31:14+00:00tag:www.gov.uk,2005:NewsArticlePresenter/2865362015-03-01T10:31:14+00:002015-03-01T10:31:14+00:00Press release: St David's day celebration trumpets record lamb exports and 376 million daffodil bulbs shipped around the worldWelsh lamb food export successes celebrated on St David's day<div class="govspeak"><p>St David’s Day revellers around the world will be tucking into tasty Welsh lamb as figures show exports have reached a record high, generating millions for the UK economy, Environment Secretary Elizabeth Truss announced today.</p>
<p>In the last four years the UK exported £523m of Welsh lamb with sales hitting £154.7m in 2013, an increase of 38% since 2010, supporting over 50,000 jobs in the region.</p>
<p>Wales’s national symbol is also proving a success overseas with millions of the UK’s brightly coloured daffodil bunches expected to grace Easter tables across the world. Total overseas exports in 2014 weighed in at an impressive 6,220 tonnes, up 50% since 2010. In the last four years we have shipped 26,900 tonnes, equating to around 376 million bulbs and generating £22 million for our economy.</p>
<p>France, Germany, Belgium, Italy and the Netherlands are now the biggest buyers of Welsh lamb, with French imports valued at £74.7 million, five times higher than any other country. And enterprising Welsh lamb producers have successfully opened up new markets as far afield as the Middle East, Hong Kong and Singapore.</p>
<p>Across the world people are increasingly using Welsh lamb as the ingredient in local speciality dishes – from pinnekjøtt in Norway to koftas in the Middle East. Sales of welsh lamb have contributed to a record year for the UK food chain which generated £103 billion in 2013 and now employs 1 in 8 people.</p>
<p>Environment Secretary Elizabeth Truss said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>St David’s Day celebrations wouldn’t be complete without lamb and daffodils on the dinner table.</p>
<p>Thanks to the unique conditions for rearing Welsh sheep, combined with expert farming techniques, people the world over, from Stockholm to Singapore, are now recognising Welsh lamb’s unrivalled quality.</p>
<p class="last-child">These impressive figures show how the UK’s world class farmers and bulb growers are helping power our growing economy. Overall our food chain is in rude health - it generated more than 200,000 jobs over the past four years, supporting our long term economic plan.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Gwyn Howells, Chief Executive of Hybu Cig Cymru – Meat Promotion Wales, said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Welsh Lamb has a well-earned reputation as a premium quality brand which is sought after by consumers right across the globe.</p>
<p class="last-child">Consumers rightly appreciate our clean, green farming methods which allow our sheep and cattle to roam extensively across the hills and valleys of Wales, exactly as nature intended. It’s why Welsh Lamb is of such high quality and makes it the ideal centrepiece for any St David’s Day celebration.</p>
</blockquote>
</div>tag:www.gov.uk,2005:NewsArticlePresenter/2475462014-07-14T16:45:00+01:002014-07-14T16:45:00+01:00Press release: New primary school tests will help eradicate illiteracy and innumeracySample questions for the tests taken by 7-year-olds and 11-year-olds show the higher standards expected for reading, writing and arithmetic.<div class="govspeak"><p>New tougher primary school tests in maths and English will further the government’s objective of ensuring nobody leaves school without being able to read or write and with a solid grounding in maths, Education Minister Elizabeth Truss said today.</p>
<p>Sample questions for the tests taken by 7-year-olds and 11-year-olds - in maths, reading, and grammar, punctuation and spelling - reveal the higher standards expected of children in the <abbr title="reading, writing and arithmetic">3Rs</abbr>.</p>
<p>The new tests will come in from 2016, reflecting the greater demands of the rigorous new curriculum, which will be taught from this September. All topics in the curriculum - including the most complex - will be tested in these new assessments, whereas at the moment 11-year-old pupils are only fully stretched if they are also entered for the separate level 6 tests. The complicated system of levels is being scrapped, with pupils given a ‘a scaled score’ which shows how they compare to the expected standard for their year.</p>
<p>Achievement at primary is vital for future success. Some 83% of pupils who reach the expected standard in both English and maths at age 11 went on to achieve at least 5 A* to C <abbr title="General Certificate of Secondary Education">GCSE</abbr> grades including English and maths in 2013.</p>
<p>A <abbr title="Confederation of British Industry">CBI</abbr> survey this month of 291 companies, employing nearly 1.5 million people, found 85% of businesses wanted more focus on literacy and numeracy at primary school. More than a third of firms (38%) said they were concerned about school leavers’ basic numeracy, while more than half of employers (54%) were concerned about literacy levels of their staff.</p>
<p>In addition studies have shown that children who do well in maths aged 10 go on to earn £2,100 a year more in their 30s than others who are just average in the subject.</p>
<p>The government is determined that no child leaves primary school unable to read, write or without a secure grounding in maths. This will provide a solid foundation for secondary school so they can master the skills needed for the workplace or further education.</p>
<p>In addition to rigorous, more demanding curriculums and tests, the government is also establishing a national network of 32 maths hubs which will seek to match the standards achieved in high-performing east asian countries, and be open to other schools to learn from. Hubs will implement the Asian-style mastery approach to maths which has seen children in these jurisdictions often around 2 years ahead of English children by age 15.</p>
<p>Education Minister Elizabeth Truss said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>We know that for children to get on in life, a solid grounding in maths and English at primary is vital.</p>
<p>This means learning times tables up to 12x12 and being able to carry out long multiplication and division without the aid of a calculator. It also means proper spelling, grammar and punctuation.</p>
<p class="last-child">There is no reason why our children cannot match the best performers around the world in these vital subjects.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>As part of the tougher new tests, pupils will have to achieve a higher ‘pass mark’ in all 3 assessments. To further raise standards the government has introduced a new accountability system for primary schools which will be more ambitious - more rigorous tests and a higher pass mark.</p>
<h2 id="year-old-test-topics">11-year-old test topics</h2>
<p>The topics children will be assessed on at age 11 through the new tests include:</p>
<h3 id="maths">Maths</h3>
<ul>
<li>adding and subtracting fractions with different denominations and mixed numbers</li>
<li>calculating the area of a parallelogram and a triangle, and the volume of a cuboid</li>
<li>using their knowledge of the order of operations to carry out calculations involving the four operations (division, multiplication, subtraction and addition)</li>
</ul>
<p>Tests under the current curriculum do not ask as much of pupils. For instance, they only have to know their 10x10 times tables and they only need to know how to calculate the area of squares and rectangles.</p>
<p>A new separate written arithmetic paper has been introduced to key stage 2 tests to ensure pupils are fluent in the discipline.</p>
<p>The government is also banning the use of calculators in tests for 11-year-olds from this year for the first time.</p>
<p>Also marks will only be given to pupils who get the wrong answer if they show their working has been done in efficient methods, including long and short division and multiplication instead of so-called ‘chunking’ or ‘grid methods’. Pupils who get the right answer will still get full marks, whatever method they have used.</p>
<h3 id="reading">Reading</h3>
<ul>
<li>identifying and commenting on writers’ use of words, phrases and language features including figurative language</li>
<li>distinguishing the difference between a fact and an opinion</li>
<li>giving the meaning of words in context</li>
</ul>
<h3 id="grammar-punctuation-and-spelling">Grammar, punctuation and spelling</h3>
<ul>
<li>assessing the use of verbs in the perfect form to mark relationships of time, ie, use of ‘have’ and ‘had’</li>
<li>recognising adverbials and how to use a fronted adverbial, ie, use of the word ‘before’ in sentences</li>
<li>assessing the use of subordination and how to introduce a subordinate clause</li>
</ul>
<p>A new test examining grammar, punctuation and spelling was introduced in May 2013. The tests from 2016, under the new curriculum, will build on this.</p>
<p>The full list of key stage 1 and 2 test sample questions is available online: ‘<a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/national-curriculum-assessments-2016-sample-materials">National curriculum assessments: 2016 sample materials</a>’</p>
<h2 id="notes-to-editors">Notes to editors</h2>
<ol>
<li>The Department for Education has today also published sample questions for tests sat by 11-year-olds in science. Tests in science are only taken by a sample of pupils: ‘<a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/national-curriculum-assessments-2016-sample-materials">National curriculum assessments: 2016 sample materials</a>’</li>
<li>Scaled scores are the new way in which test outcomes will be reported. A scaled score of 100 will represent the expected standard on the test, with scores above 100 indicating higher attainment. More details about scaled scores will be provided to schools in summer 2015.</li>
<li>Previous tests sat by 11-year-olds are available: ‘<a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/key-stage-2-tests-past-papers">National curriculum assessments: past papers</a>’</li>
<li>The study referred to in the press notice is the ‘<a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/reading-and-maths-skills-at-age-10-and-earnings-in-later-life">Reading and maths skills at age 10 and earnings in later life: a brief analysis using the British Cohort Study</a>’</li>
</ol>
<div class="contact " id="contact_997">
<div class="content">
<h3>DfE enquiries</h3>
<div class="vcard contact-inner">
<div class="email-url-number">
<p class="tel">
<span class="type">Central newsdesk</span>
020 7783 8300
</p>
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<span class="type">General enquiries</span>
0370 000 2288
</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>tag:www.gov.uk,2005:SpeechPresenter/2451412014-07-02T14:06:38+01:002014-07-02T14:06:38+01:00Speech: Post-16 maths in EnglandElizabeth Truss speaks at the Core Maths Support Programme launch workshop about post-16 maths.<div class="govspeak"><h3 id="introduction">Introduction</h3>
<p>Thanks very much, Steve [Munby, Chief Executive of <abbr title="Centre for British Teachers">CfBT</abbr>], for that kind introduction. It’s great to be here.</p>
<p>This weekend, at the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, the McLaren Mercedes cars zooming around the track will have a brand new logo on the bonnet front and centre - Your Life.</p>
<p>And that logo - perhaps looking slightly blurred, at high speed - will bring our message to life.</p>
<p>Because the whole point of the Your Life campaign is to show that “maths and science get you everywhere” applies to all young people - girls and boys, no matter where they live or what career they want to do.</p>
<p>And more than any other subject, maths and science can open up a whole world of exciting opportunities.</p>
<h3 id="a-maths-powerhouse">A maths powerhouse</h3>
<p>Just like that car, just like our Formula 1 teams, I believe this country can and should be world-leaders - in maths.</p>
<p>There’s no reason at all why we can’t catch up with, and beat, those high-performing countries currently winning the global race.</p>
<p>The Your Life car can race straight to the front of the pack - we can too. Our ambition is for our young people to become the best mathematicians in the world - and nothing can stop us from achieving it.</p>
<p>Tonight, at Number 11 Downing Street, we’re bringing all the core elements together, right at the heart of government.</p>
<p>There’ll be people from the Your Life campaign - world-leading businesses and universities, and inspiring, innovative people like Eben Upton, who invented the ground-breaking Raspberry Pi computer, Belinda Parmar, CEO of Lady Geek, and our chair, Edwina Dunn, the successful business brain who pioneered Tesco’s Clubcard.</p>
<p>There’ll be people involved in our 2 announcements this week, like many of you - some from our new network of maths hubs, all over the country, working to spread best practice and drive up the quality of teaching, and our new core maths programme. There is no reason why children in England can’t do just as well in maths as those in Japan, Singapore and China - so these hubs will lead the system in delivering huge and sustainable change.</p>
<p>There’ll be sponsors of our maths and physics chairs - world-leading companies: UBS, Imagination Technologies, Nationwide Building Society, Tata Consulting, Telereal Trilium, <abbr title="Royal Bank of Scotland">RBS</abbr>, Barclays, Hutchison Whampoa, BAE Systems, Lloyds, GlaxoSmithKline, Samsung, Goldman Sachs and Prudential.</p>
<p>The programme is attracting <abbr title="Doctor of Philosophy">PhD</abbr> graduates to become teachers and bring their top-level expertise into schools.</p>
<p>Together we can make Britain a maths powerhouse.</p>
<h3 id="the-importance-of-maths">The importance of maths</h3>
<p>No subject is more crucial to this country’s economic competitiveness.</p>
<p>More than any other subject, maths and science can open doors to all sorts of exciting, rewarding careers.</p>
<p>That’s never been more true than right now. As technology has become ever more sophisticated, and transformed ever more industries and occupations, more and more jobs now demand maths and science skills - from fashion to farming, manufacturing to music.</p>
<p>These skills are vital to get our country’s businesses, and our national economy, growing.</p>
<p>We know that maths skills command highest earnings premium in the jobs market.</p>
<p>And we know that the <abbr title="Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development">OECD</abbr> calls numeracy “the best protection against unemployment, low wages, and poor health” - and that more than two thirds of employers want both maths and science to be promoted more in schools.</p>
<p><abbr title="Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development">OECD</abbr> analysis suggests that if 15-year-olds in this country could increase their average performance by 25 <abbr title="Programme for International Student Assessment">PISA</abbr> points - the equivalent of just over half a school year - the potential benefit to our economy would be something in the order of $6 trillion.</p>
<p>But we also know that the pipeline is broken. Far too many young people in this country give up maths and science at 16.</p>
<p>We currently have the lowest rate of maths participation among 16- to 18-year-olds in the <abbr title="Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development">OECD</abbr> - just about a fifth.</p>
<p>In 2013 more than 580,000 young people took maths at <abbr title="General Certificate of Secondary Education">GCSE</abbr> but only 82,000 people took it at A level.</p>
<p>But in Japan, Korea and Finland, all young people study maths to 18; in France, Germany, Massachusetts and British Columbia, it’s the vast majority.</p>
<p>And our young people will need to compete against their peers around the world for jobs, university places, for every opportunity. We can’t allow them to fall behind.</p>
<p>So we need to give our 16- to 18-year-olds this message. Maths and science can open more doors than they might realise - and give them the best possible start to the brightest possible future.</p>
<h3 id="maths-post-16">Maths post 16</h3>
<p>We are radically reforming our maths curriculum and qualifications to match the best worldwide.</p>
<p>Our maths hubs will be working with academics from Shanghai Normal University and <abbr title="National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics">NCETM</abbr> to bring over the Asian-style mastery approach to maths - the approach which has already helped countries in East Asia and beyond to reach the top of the tables.</p>
<p>They’ll also host the Shanghai Teacher Exchange - sending English teachers out to Shanghai, the highest-performing region in the world, to show off the best of British and to see Chinese teaching techniques in action, then welcoming up to 60 teachers from Shanghai to share their knowledge and expertise with teachers here, providing masterclasses for both pupils and students.</p>
<p>This work will give English pupils a deeper understanding of maths. But they also need to learn it for longer.</p>
<p>By 2020, we want the overwhelming majority of young people to study maths to 18, going from the bottom of that table to the top.</p>
<p>That’s why we’re making sure that young people who don’t get at least a C in maths <abbr title="General Certificate of Secondary Education">GCSE</abbr> at the age of 16 continue to study the subject until 18 - and reforming the maths A Level, working with <abbr title="Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation">Ofqual</abbr> and top universities, to make it more challenging and stretching.</p>
<p>We’re also funding Cambridge University to develop an advanced maths curriculum for A level students so they are ready for rigorous degree courses.</p>
<p>But at the moment, a huge segment of the cohort - about 40% - get a good grade in maths <abbr title="General Certificate of Secondary Education">GCSE</abbr>, but drop maths at 16.</p>
<p>Maybe their timetable is too full; maybe they didn’t feel there was a maths option for them. Either way, it adds up to this result. More than 200,000 students every year are missing out.</p>
<p>And they’re not just missing out on the fun and challenge of studying advanced maths for its own sake - they’re missing out on all the benefits that the subject brings. Their maths gets rusty; they lose confidence; they close down career options before they’ve even started.</p>
<h3 id="new-more-exciting-qualifications">New, more exciting qualifications</h3>
<p>That’s why we’re creating the new option of core maths, aimed at non-specialists, to keep these young people studying maths after <abbr title="General Certificate of Secondary Education">GCSE</abbr> - deepen and strengthen their skills, keep their confidence, and their ambitions, sky high.</p>
<p>Brand new, exciting core maths qualifications will fill that gap - offering 16- to 18-year-olds a challenging, rigorous course, learning to use maths to solve real life problems.</p>
<p>The courses will build students’ competence and confidence in mathematical techniques like statistics, advanced calculation, financial maths and modelling - for example, learning how to build a financial model to understand an investment, analyse trends in population growth or calculate ways to improve a process.</p>
<p>The International Baccalaureate (<abbr title="International Baccalaureate">IB</abbr>) Mathematical Studies, respected by universities and employers, can be the core.</p>
<p>These are the sort of techniques needed in all sorts of careers, from marketing to manufacturing, computing to nursing. Importantly, core maths qualifications will also count as the maths element of the Tech Bacc, the mark of achievement in vocational education - which will be available for first teaching in September 2015.</p>
<p>We’ve already seen this model work with the <abbr title="International Baccalaureate">IB</abbr> Career-related Certificate and <abbr title="International Baccalaureate">IB</abbr> Diploma</p>
<h3 id="rolling-out-to-schools-and-colleges">Rolling out to schools and colleges</h3>
<p>From September almost 200 schools and colleges have asked to deliver these qualifications - a year earlier than planned.</p>
<p>That means that more than 5,000 young people who would otherwise have given up maths to 18 will be continuing the subjects - and reaping the benefits.</p>
<p>These schools are the pioneers - and their experience, their enthusiasm, will be crucial as we roll out core maths across the whole country.</p>
<p><abbr title="International Baccalaureate">IB</abbr> have made their course available to non-<abbr title="International Baccalaureate">IB</abbr> schools.</p>
<p>So I’d like to thank all the teachers and leaders who are going to be the first to try this out - and to wish them all the very best of luck for the year ahead.</p>
<h3 id="core-maths-support-programme">Core Maths Support Programme</h3>
<p>This is a big - and exciting - change. It could transform the whole landscape of post-16 education in this country - and could give thousands of young people a much better start to adult life.</p>
<p>But that “could” won’t turn into a “will” unless schools and colleges are ready and raring to deliver core maths properly.</p>
<p>So I’d like to thank all of you here today for your help in supporting schools and colleges to make core maths a success.</p>
<p>In particular, my thanks go to Mick Blaylock and the team at <abbr title="Centre for British Teachers">CfBT</abbr> for helping to establish the Core Maths Support Programme in the first place.</p>
<p>Your work, and the work of the support programme, will be crucial in helping us make core maths the norm for many, many more young people in the future.</p>
<h3 id="conclusion">Conclusion</h3>
<p>This is the start of something big. When England can move from a place where it’s considered cool to say “I’m rubbish at maths” to a country where young people think, not “shall I do maths?”, but “what maths shall I study?”.</p>
<p>We want every young person to leave full-time education with an advanced maths qualification, and all the skills and benefits that brings.</p>
<p>That’s what core maths can achieve - and that’s what we’re all working together to do. So thank you again for your help - and let’s make core maths a huge success.</p>
</div>tag:www.gov.uk,2005:NewsArticlePresenter/2448302014-07-01T12:25:00+01:002014-07-01T12:25:00+01:00Press release: Network of 32 maths hubs across England aims to raise standardsMinister Truss states there's no reason why children in England cannot reach same level as those in Japan, Singapore and China.<div class="govspeak"><p>A national network of maths hubs that will seek to match the standards achieved in top-performing east Asian countries - including Japan, Singapore and China - was launched today by Education Minister Elizabeth Truss.</p>
<p>She revealed the names of the 32 schools and academy trusts which will lead the hubs across England and provide a model for schools in their area. The scheme is backed by £11 million funding from the Department for Education and will be accessible to all schools.</p>
<p>These ‘pace-setters’ will implement the Asian-style mastery approach to maths which has achieved world-leading success - with children in these jurisdictions often around 2 years ahead of English children by age 15.</p>
<p>Hubs will develop this programme with academics from Shanghai Normal University and England’s National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Maths (<abbr title="National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Maths">NCETM</abbr>). Later this year, 50 teachers from Shanghai will be embedded in the hubs to teach pupils and run masterclasses for other teachers. Lessons will be shared online.</p>
<p>The techniques and methods used will include:</p>
<ul>
<li>specialist subject teaching at primary in maths and other subjects instead of a designated class teacher</li>
<li>effective use of textbooks and shared lesson plans so teachers are not reinventing the wheel</li>
<li>lesson plans available online so any teacher can use them and rate which are most useful</li>
<li>daily maths lessons, homework and catch up to ensure all children master core techniques</li>
<li>fluency and deep understanding of formal maths including columnar addition and subtraction, long multiplication and long division in line with the new national curriculum, as well as times tables and number bonds</li>
<li>teachers in the schools participating in research, frequent classroom observation and feedback</li>
</ul>
<p>The Head of Education at the respected <abbr title="Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development">OECD</abbr>, Andreas Schleicher, has described the programme as ‘potentially transformative’.</p>
<p>The hubs will also be supporting the Your Life campaign to increase the number of students studying maths and physics at <abbr title="General Certificate of Education Advanced Level">A level</abbr>. The campaign, led by businesses, aims to increase the number of students taking maths and physics <abbr title="General Certificate of Education Advanced Level">A level</abbr> by 50% over the next 3 years.</p>
<p>International test results show that England’s performance in maths has stagnated in recent years while other parts of the world have surged ahead. The <abbr title="Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development">OECD</abbr>’s Programme for International Student Assessment (<abbr title="Programme for International Student Assessment">PISA</abbr>) now ranks us 25th, with the table headed by a clutch of south-east Asian jurisdictions including Shanghai, South Korea, Hong Kong, Japan and Singapore.</p>
<p>Education Minister Elizabeth Truss said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>There is no reason why children in England cannot achieve the same standards in maths as those in Japan, Singapore and China. We put in more resources in England than in these countries and we have the best generation of teachers ever. Yet our children are 2 to 3 years behind by the age of 15.</p>
<p>We must learn from the systematic practice of these high achieving countries, who are constantly seeking to improve. Maths hubs will bring this approach to all parts of the country and all schools will be able to benefit.</p>
<p>Our hubs will allow teachers to learn from each other, helping to give them the confidence and knowledge they need to teach maths even more effectively.</p>
<p class="last-child">Maths is the most important subject for a child’s future - it commands the highest earnings, provides the best protection against unemployment and will get you everywhere, opening doors to dozens of careers.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>One of the schools chosen to lead a maths hub is Fox Primary School in Ladbroke Grove, west London. Like the other lead schools, Fox was chosen for its high-quality maths teaching.</p>
<p>Teachers also focus on giving quick feedback to children. Some 98% of 11-year-olds at the school exceeded the expected level (achieving level 5 or above) in maths last year - more than twice the national average of 41%.</p>
<p>The school is also expert at supporting a number of struggling primary schools in the area; offering teacher training and helping them develop high-quality lesson plans.</p>
<p>In one school there has been a significant rise in the number of 11-year-olds achieving the expected level in maths. Between 2012 and 2013 the number of pupils in this school reaching the required standard rose from 70% to 96%.</p>
<p>Fox will now be given the resources to offer this kind of support to a much larger group of schools developing teachers’ subject knowledge and confidence.</p>
<p>Paul Cotter, Headteacher of Fox Primary School, said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>We are very excited to become a lead school in the maths hub programme. The net beneficiary of effective maths practice is the pupils, and the maths hub programme will allow the greatest possible dissemination of best practice to primary schools in our network.</p>
<p class="last-child">Schools working in an insular, unitary fashion is a waste of a great potential to share ideas, experiences and resources amongst colleagues. We believe that learning from each other, and from expert maths teachers in China, will bring about a marked improvement in subject knowledge and pedagogy in the area of primary mathematics.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The network of hubs includes primary and secondary schools as well as further education colleges. In Sheffield, Notre Dame High School will lead the Hallam Teaching School Alliance that will support up to 600 schools in the region.</p>
<p>Paul Haigh, Director of the Hallam Teaching School Alliance, said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>We are honoured to have been selected as a maths hub lead school. We see improvements in maths teaching as a huge challenge that needs to be met head on to ensure our education system rivals the best in the world and our economy is strong for the future.</p>
<p class="last-child">We work in an area where maths standards are frankly not high enough in all schools but thankfully there are many pockets of outstanding practice in terms of teaching expertise and pupil performance.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The full list of lead schools is:</p>
<ul>
<li>Comberton Academy Trust in Cambridge</li>
<li>The Hertfordshire &amp; Essex High School and Science College in Hertfordshire</li>
<li>The Inspiration Trust in Norfolk (Sir Isaac Newton Sixth Form Free School) with Kesgrave High School</li>
<li>George Spencer Academy, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire</li>
<li>The Minster School in Southwell, Nottinghamshire</li>
<li>Fox Primary School in Ladbroke Grove, London</li>
<li>The St Marylebone CofE School in Westminster, London</li>
<li>Belleville Primary School in Wandsworth, London</li>
<li>Elmhurst Primary School in Newham, London</li>
<li>Woolwich Polytechnic School for Boys in Thamesmead, London</li>
<li>The Harris Federation in London</li>
<li>The North Tyneside Learning Trust in Newcastle</li>
<li>Carmel College in Darlington</li>
<li>The Bright Futures Educational Trust in Cheshire</li>
<li>The Ashton on Mersey Teaching School Alliance and Dean Trust in Cheshire</li>
<li>St Helens Teaching School Alliance in Merseyside</li>
<li>St. John the Baptist Catholic Comprehensive School in Woking, Surrey</li>
<li>Denbigh School in Milton Keynes</li>
<li>Mary Rose Academy in Portsmouth</li>
<li>St Paul’s Catholic College in Burgess Hill, West Sussex</li>
<li>Wycombe High School in Buckinghamshire</li>
<li>The Woodroffe School in Lyme Regis, Dorset</li>
<li>Balcarras School in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire</li>
<li>Truro and Penwith College in Truro, Cornwall</li>
<li>Cabot Learning Federation in Bristol</li>
<li>Bishop Challoner Catholic College in Birmingham</li>
<li>Painsley Catholic College in Cheadle, Staffordshire</li>
<li>The Priory Federation of Academies Trust in Shropshire</li>
<li>Harrogate Grammar School in Harrogate, north Yorkshire</li>
<li>Outwood Grange Academies Trust in Wakefield</li>
<li>Notre Dame High School in Sheffield</li>
<li>Trinity Academy Halifax in Halifax</li>
</ul>
<p>The <abbr title="National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Maths">NCETM</abbr> will co-ordinate the programme at a national level. The <abbr title="National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Maths">NCETM</abbr> has already trialled the maths hubs approach working with several leading teaching schools.</p>
<p>By establishing pathfinder maths hubs which are already demonstrating how well-placed certain teaching schools are to provide strategic leadership. Also evident is the strong commitment from a diverse range of partners to pool their expertise in a collective effort to support schools in maths education.</p>
<p>As the programme develops the <abbr title="National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Maths">NCETM</abbr> will ensure that best practice in hubs is shared amongst the whole network and drive improvement.</p>
<p>Charlie Stripp, Director of the <abbr title="National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Maths">NCETM</abbr>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The maths hubs programme has immense potential to bring about widespread and long-lasting improvements to the way all English school and college students learn maths, and retain that learning for use in later life. We know there are many examples of excellent mathematics education within the school and college system.</p>
<p class="last-child">The maths hubs programme offers a means of spreading that excellence more widely, sharing proven good practice and supporting innovation. It also provides a means to disseminate, exploit and build on lessons that English teachers learn from each other, and from other countries, in particular as a result of the exchange project with teachers in China starting this autumn.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The Shanghai Teacher Exchange programme will see up to 60 English-speaking maths teachers from China embedded in the 30 maths hubs, starting this autumn term.</p>
<p>The Chinese teachers will run master classes for local schools and provide subject-specific on-the-job teacher training.</p>
<p>Two leading English maths teachers from each of the 30 maths hubs will work in schools in China for at least a month, to learn their world-class teaching approaches. The teachers will then put into practice in England what they have learnt and spread this widely to their peers.</p>
<p>Hubs will develop local specialist expertise by including local university faculties, area representatives of national initiatives (such as the Further Mathematics Support Programme and the Core Maths Support Programme), subject associations and appropriate local employers.</p>
<p>They will also work with new maths and physics chairs, <abbr title="Doctor of Philosophy">PhD</abbr> graduates being recruited to become teachers to take their expertise into the classroom and transform the way the maths and physics are taught. Chairs who will be offered wages of £40,000 - jointly funded by the government and businesses - will make maths and physics teaching more inspirational, practical and cutting-edge - inspiring more pupils to study them.</p>
<p>The maths hubs programme is just one part of wider government reforms to raise standards in maths education. We are:</p>
<ul>
<li>introducing a rigorous curriculum that focuses on the basics in primary so pupils can progress and achieve greater success at secondary
<ul>
<li>there is increased challenge in primary school maths with more demanding concepts (eg calculations of fractions, volume and area) introduced earlier. Children will be expected to know their 12x12 times table by age 9</li>
<li>secondary school pupils will learn about rates of change, probability and algebra</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>banning calculators from tests for 11-year-olds</li>
<li>introducing tough new <abbr title="General Certificates of Secondary Education">GCSEs</abbr> that are more demanding than current exams</li>
<li>involving our top universities in developing new maths <abbr title="General Certificates of Education Advanced Level">A levels</abbr> and are funding Cambridge University to develop an advanced maths curriculum for <abbr title="General Certificate of Education Advanced Level">A level</abbr> students so they are ready for rigorous degree courses</li>
<li>making it mandatory for anyone not achieving a C or better at <abbr title="General Certificate of Secondary Education">GCSE</abbr> maths to continue studying the subject until they do</li>
<li>providing the highest level of bursaries for maths graduates to recruit more top maths graduates to increase quality of teaching</li>
<li>running the Your Life campaign, led by entrepreneurs to highlight the opportunities for those with maths and science in sectors such as marketing, law and engineering</li>
</ul>
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</div>tag:www.gov.uk,2005:NewsArticlePresenter/2431322014-06-25T13:00:00+01:002014-06-25T13:00:00+01:00Press release: New £50m fund to help most disadvantaged 3- and 4-year-oldsMore than 170,000 children in England set to benefit from more than £50 million.<div class="govspeak"><p>Three- and four-year-olds from low-income families are to benefit from a new £50 million fund unveiled today helping to prevent them falling behind before they have even started school.</p>
<p>The new early years pupil premium, worth over £300 per pupil, is designed to narrow the attainment gap between young children from low-income families and their peers, setting them on the path to a more successful future.</p>
<p>According to research, children from low-income families are estimated to already be 19 months behind more advantaged peers when they start school. High-quality early education can close this gap and improve results later on in life.</p>
<p>The early years pupil premium aims to help nurseries raise the quality of their provision and <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/early-years-pupil-premium-and-funding-for-2-year-olds">today’s consultation</a> will look at how best to make it work.</p>
<p>Nurseries will have freedom to decide how to use the money to help 3- and 4-year-olds learn and develop, for example more qualified staff or specialists in activities like speech and language to give an extra focus on basic skills.</p>
<p>Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Every child deserves the chance to fulfil their potential, and this extra funding is a boost to help our youngest children get on in life and succeed.</p>
<p class="last-child">Boys and girls from poorer families have often already fallen 19 months behind their better off classmates by the time they hang up their coat on the first day of school. Increasing their chances of success has got to be a top priority.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Education and Childcare Minister Elizabeth Truss said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Children from low income families are already behind their peers in language and communication by the age of 5 - this is not good enough.</p>
<p>We expect nurseries will use this money to create more high-quality nursery provision led by teachers.</p>
<p class="last-child">We know it’s a challenge to close the attainment gap later on but with the introduction of the early years pupil premium we hope it will prevent this gap from emerging in the first place.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The early years pupil premium builds on the pupil premium, established in 2011, to transform the way we educate our children from low-income families.</p>
<p>Its launch coincides with <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/pupil-premium-awards-2014">today’s Pupil Premium Awards ceremony</a>, recognising the schools in England best at helping pupils from low-income families through their effective and innovative use of the funding.</p>
<p>The Deputy Prime Minister will congratulate the 3 winners at a ceremony in London, designed to promote the best ways of using the money so that other schools can follow their lead.</p>
<p>Schools Minister David Laws added:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The pupil premium is about helping schools to help all pupils succeed - regardless of background.</p>
<p>The new early years pupil premium will help to capture those children who need support at an early age - bringing them on a level playing field with their peers by the time they start school.</p>
<p class="last-child">We’re also celebrating the success of the pupil premium and I want to congratulate all of the schools and their inspiring staff nominated this year and encourage them to go even further for next year’s awards.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The early years pupil premium is part of the government’s programme of reforms to help children get ready to begin school, especially those who are from low-income families. This includes:</p>
<ul>
<li>expanding 15 hours of free early education to 40% of 2-year-olds</li>
<li>expanding the role that schools play in the early years</li>
<li>tougher inspection and accountability through a stronger Ofsted framework</li>
<li>improving the quality of staff entering the early years workforce by introducing early years teachers</li>
<li>encouraging new providers into the market including through the introduction of childminder agencies</li>
</ul>
<h2 id="background">Background</h2>
<ol>
<li>More information about the pupil premium can be found on our <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/policies/raising-the-achievement-of-disadvantaged-children/supporting-pages/pupil-premium">policy page</a>.</li>
<li>The <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/early-years-pupil-premium-and-funding-for-2-year-olds">early years pupil premium consultation</a> is available online.</li>
<li>Details on who is eligible for the early years pupil premium can be found in chapter 4 of the consultation.</li>
<li>
<a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/pupil-premium-awards-2014">Award winners</a> will be announced at 10.30am on Wednesday 25 June.</li>
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</div>tag:www.gov.uk,2005:SpeechPresenter/2417072014-06-17T15:46:00+01:002014-06-17T15:46:00+01:00Speech: Elizabeth Truss speaks about how schools can support parentsElizabeth Truss, Education and Childcare Minister, speaks to CityFathers about schools, childcare and parents. <div class="govspeak"><p>Thanks very much. It’s great to be here at CityFathers and CityMothers - CityParents.</p>
<p>And I’m very impressed by the rate of growth in your organisation since last year.</p>
<p>As we all know, parenting is one of the most important jobs any of us will ever do.</p>
<p>And not just for mothers - it’s a job for both parents.</p>
<p>Apart from actually giving birth - which women haven’t yet managed to delegate, despite Arnold Schwarzenegger films suggesting otherwise - fathers face just the same challenges and dilemmas as mothers, and it’s very important for both parents to be involved in their children’s lives.</p>
<h2 id="in-defence-of-parents">In defence of parents</h2>
<p>Sometimes it feels as though the whole issue of parenthood has never been more fraught.</p>
<p>The debate swings between blaming parents for all society’s problems - for being too focused on their own careers and neglecting their children, letting them run riot and play computer games late into the night.</p>
<p>Or it blames them for being too obsessed with their own offspring - painting an unfair and untrue picture of entitled mums and dads ramming their Bugaboos into pedestrians, clogging up the streets on the school run and hogging all the best spaces in supermarket car parks.</p>
<p>The reality - of course - is that neither of these gargoyle stereotypes is true.</p>
<p>In fact parents today are working harder than ever, spending more time with their children than ever, and worrying more and more about how to help their child succeed.</p>
<p>Across the developed world, the trend is increasingly for dual-income families. Sixty per cent of families in the <abbr title="Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development">OECD</abbr> have 2 parents in work - and about two-thirds of mothers in the UK are in paid employment.</p>
<p>But that doesn’t mean they’re not working hard at home as well. This generation of working parents with young children spends more time on childcare than stay-at-home parents did in the 1970s. And stay-at-home parents are devoting more time to their children.</p>
<p>According to the Multinational Time Use Study in 2005, employed women spent an average of 97 minutes per day with their children below the age of 4 - 20 minutes more than non-working mothers did in 1974.</p>
<p>So we should all speak in defence of parents and the work they do - and regardless of where they live or what they do, all the parents I meet have one thing in common. They’re really concerned about their children’s welfare; about how they’re getting on at school, and whether they’re happy; about whether they’ll get good grades, get a good job and get on the housing ladder.</p>
<h2 id="institutions-to-fit-the-modern-world">Institutions to fit the modern world</h2>
<p>Because as we all know, the world is getting more and more competitive.</p>
<p>The globe is shrinking, and people hop from continent to continent for work, study, and travel - while the relentless march of technology is transforming our jobs, our homes, and our lives.</p>
<p>Mostly, for the better. The internet has brought the world to our desk and our door; we can talk to people on the other side of the globe instantly, for free; the employment market is much more fluid, and much more dynamic, and people can increasingly move in and out of jobs and careers, of full-time and part-time and flexible work. As more basic tasks are automated or robotised, human intelligence and skill is more important than ever, and many of our jobs are getting fuller and more interesting.</p>
<p>It’s easy sometimes to take our world of limitless opportunities for granted. Remember when 4 TV channels felt like unimaginable luxury? When getting sports results on Ceefax was like magic? When everyone had to carry a London A to Z to have any hope of getting around? We now rely on technology.</p>
<p>But modern life can also be tiring. When you can communicate instantly, the speed of life and of work increases exponentially - and with emails, BlackBerrys, mobiles, wifi, we are ‘always on’ and always frenetic.</p>
<p>All too often, corporate culture rewards the person who stays longer and later - regardless of whether they’re actually doing the best job and delivering the best outcomes.</p>
<p>Look at my workplace - the ultimate example of presenteeism, where you have to show up in person to walk through a lobby and vote at 10pm.</p>
<p>Our workplaces - our institutions - need to adapt to the world we live in. Too often they are saddled with the cultural assumptions of the past. They need to focus more on the work employees do, and the results they achieve, than the hours they spend in the office.</p>
<p>That would be better for the economy - and better for all of us.</p>
<h2 id="education-ever-more-important">Education ever more important</h2>
<p>And, above all, it would be better for our children.</p>
<p>Because if the world feels fast now - just imagine how much faster it will feel in 20 or 30 years’ time.</p>
<p>Our children will face competition from the rising, hungry nations of the world; will do jobs we can’t even imagine, working in ways we can’t predict.</p>
<p>The one thing we know is that education and skills will only become more crucial. The correlation between international test scores at age 15 and economic growth has already increased by a third in the last few decades.</p>
<p>And we know that other countries and regions are racing ahead. Fifteen-year-olds in Shanghai are already 3 years ahead of those in this country in maths. And those in Poland are one year ahead.</p>
<p>That’s why education and childcare go hand in hand. We need to support parents and also give children the best start in life.</p>
<p>That’s why this government is doing everything possible to drive up standards in schools and help every child reach their full potential.</p>
<p>Of course we also want rounded, creative, innovative youngsters - who are resilient and can handle change.</p>
<p>Just this weekend, I published <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/mental-health-and-behaviour-in-schools--2">new guidance helping teachers to identify and support young people suffering from underlying mental health problems</a> - meaning healthier, happier classrooms.</p>
<h2 id="schools-to-support-modern-life">Schools to support modern life</h2>
<p>And we’re determined to make schools become institutions that work better with modern life - that prepare children for all the challenges of the modern world, and support and help families.</p>
<p>That’s why Michael Gove announced earlier this year that he wants state schools - just like independent schools - to offer a school day 9 or 10 hours long, and we will support schools to do this.</p>
<p>Not necessarily for extra lessons - but for a safe, calm place to do homework, or to go over classes which you didn’t get the first time round; time for clubs like debating, cadets, orchestras, sport and drama, for volunteering or careers talks from employers - all the sort of enrichment activities which our best schools already offer as a matter of course.</p>
<p>And I’m pleased to say that new research from the <abbr title="Department for Education">DfE</abbr> shows that last year around half of all primaries in England - almost 10,000 schools - were offering care both before and after school during term time, breakfast clubs, homework clubs, and so on.</p>
<p>Sixty-four per cent of all English primary schools provided access to before school care, 70% provided access to after school care and 19% provided access to holiday care.</p>
<p>And before and after school care is actually most common in schools in the most deprived areas - helping to give children who need it a better start in life. Seventy-three per cent of primary schools in the most deprived areas run before-school activities, for example, compared with just 61% in the rest of the country.</p>
<p>Of course, for parents who work, an extended school day makes balancing care and career much easier.</p>
<p>At the moment, the school day normally runs from 9 to 3 - meaning that any parent whose work day runs beyond these hours is completely stuck.</p>
<p>By extending that day, parents can spend less time fretting about getting out of work on time - and spend more time together as a family.</p>
<p>Academies already have the freedom to extend the school day - and many are using that freedom to achieve brilliant results.</p>
<p>Like Great Yarmouth Primary School, in Norfolk.</p>
<p>Until September 2012, this was Greenacre Primary - one of the worst schools in the country, in special measures after it was condemned by inspectors in 2010 as failing.</p>
<p>Under the expert stewardship of the Inspiration Trust, led by Theodore Agnew and Dame Rachel de Souza, and the fantastic leadership of head Bill Holledge, it was reopened as an academy in 2012 - open until 5 or 6pm most evenings, offering pupils a free programme of after school activities, from horseriding and cookery to sport, drama and music, along with supervised homework sessions.</p>
<p>Just last week, it was rated good with outstanding leadership by Ofsted - an incredible turnaround.</p>
<p>As the Ofsted report said, “enrichment activities and study sessions provided as part of the mandatory extended day increase pupils’ self confidence, life skills and engagement in learning. They contribute to the pupils’ improving achievement.”</p>
<h2 id="school-based-nurseries">School-based nurseries</h2>
<p>As well as wanting to see more schools offer that sort of provision, we also want more schools to reach down the age range and offer nurseries for 2-, 3- and 4-year-olds as well.</p>
<p>Like Evelyn Street Primary School in Warrington - a school of about 200 pupils between 2 and 11, rated outstanding by Ofsted.</p>
<p>Their nursery already has 52 places for 3- and 4-year-olds. Now, it’s started offering 16 places to 2-year-olds as well, which are already in high demand.</p>
<p>As far as parents are concerned, it’s one joined up service. Nursery care is available from 8am to 6pm. Parents can choose the times they need, and use their funded hours for any of them, topping up with paid-for care if necessary, getting really high-quality, teacher-led nursery care. And Evelyn Street is managing to provide this at two-thirds of the average childcare cost in the North West because they share so many of the costs with the school.</p>
<p>And they’re achieving great results. Because children and parents engage with school much earlier, both attainment and behaviour are noticeably better, particularly among the most vulnerable children.</p>
<p>The idea of using our schools better has growing support from all political parties - in fact, just last week, Margaret Hodge <abbr title="Member of Parliament">MP</abbr> said that:</p>
<blockquote>
<p class="last-child">The sensible policy direction would have been to locate more and more of our childcare offer in schools rather than build other buildings partly because it would be more sustainable, partly because it would make better use of valuable community assets and [is] where people feel comfortable, and partly because it brings the influence of the education community to bear on the quality of childcare provision.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>We know that there’s huge demand from parents - and already, the school census shows that in January 2013, 5,358 state-funded mainstream primary schools recorded themselves as having ‘nursery-type’ school classes - over 30% of the total.</p>
<p>So we’ve made it easier than ever for every school to open a nursery for the whole day from 8am to 6pm.</p>
<p>Over the last year, 49 schools all over the country planning and delivering places for 2-year-olds - both in the country and in cities - have been helping us to work out how we can make it easier for more schools to offer places to 2-year-olds.</p>
<p>It’s been a huge success. Three-quarters of their in-house school nurseries are already full up. And while the traditional nurseries that we’ve got at the moment only offer care for half the day at most, 4 out of 5 of these new model school nurseries are now offering full-time care, in both the morning and the afternoon, making life much easier for parents who work full time.</p>
<p>Because these nurseries are based on the same site as schools, they can work much more closely together - sharing breakfast, after school and holiday clubs, and providing continuity from early education into education.</p>
<p>Many of the people in this room may think that 8am to 6pm doesn’t work with their schedules. So we’re also introducing childminder agencies from this September, giving much greater flexibility. One of them, for example, will be operating within a school, offering a seamless, flexible service to parents. By offering cover and quality assurance, childminder agencies provide a one-stop shop - while making it much easier for more people to become childminders and work with both schools and parents.</p>
<h2 id="better-for-parents">Better for parents</h2>
<p>As far as parents are concerned, schools can offer one, joined up, flexible offer - meaning that parents can choose the services they need, and pay for them with government-funded hours, our new Tax-Free Childcare worth £2,000 per child per year, their own money, or both.</p>
<p>And by using our school facilities better, we can get much better value for money and a better integrated service.</p>
<p>So we want many more schools to get involved. We’re speaking to all the big academy chains, encouraging them to lead the way, linking with private nurseries to provide the best offer to parents.</p>
<p>And we’re also working with children’s centres - which offer early help and are based in the most deprived areas - are now reaching out to more parents.</p>
<p>We’ve just had some very good results last week that 90% of eligible parents are now registered by children’s centres, and 90 to 98% are very or fairly satisfied with the services they received, including activities like breastfeeding support and parent/baby classes.</p>
<h2 id="conclusion">Conclusion</h2>
<p>In this room we’ve got a group of pioneers, demanding a culture change from their workplaces to focus on outcomes, not presenteeism.</p>
<p>In the same way, we should also demand a culture change in the schools. Next time you are in your child’s school, if they don’t already, ask them whether they’re planning to offer 8 to 6 provision - ask whether they’re going to extend their age range downwards, and welcome 2-, 3- and 4-year-olds to be part of the school family.</p>
<p>We all need to be asking those questions of our schools. We know that the world has changed since we were children - and parenting has changed along with it.</p>
<p>Our institutions need to change too. They need to work with us, and support us.</p>
<p>In the workplace and the playground, the office and the classroom, we need our institutions to support and help family life - helping parents, helping children, helping our whole society.</p>
<p>Thank you.</p>
</div>tag:www.gov.uk,2005:NewsArticlePresenter/2409982014-06-12T11:23:25+01:002014-06-12T11:23:25+01:00Press release: More families in need supported by children’s centresNew research shows children’s centres are reaching over 90% of families most in need. <div class="govspeak"><p>Children’s centres are reaching over 90% of families most in need, research has revealed today (11 June 2014).</p>
<p>Last year more than 1 million parents received help and support on all aspects of family life through children’s centres. Today’s <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/evaluation-of-childrens-centres-in-england-ecce">report</a> shows an overwhelming number of families are accessing high-quality, targeted services.</p>
<p>Education and Childcare Minister Elizabeth Truss said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>It is great news to see that children’s centres are performing better than ever. Today’s figures prove that centres are successfully reaching out to those families most in need, with the vast majority of parents happy with the services they’ve received - from stay and play and health checks, to back to work support for parents.</p>
<p class="last-child">The government’s clear that children’s centres have a vital role to play in making sure families get the help they need by offering a wide range of local, flexible services so they can choose what works best for their family. Today’s evidence shows that centres are doing just that - acting as a valuable lifeline for families up and down the country.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Over 88% of families most in need have told the Department fro Education (<abbr title="Department for Education">DfE</abbr>) that the services in their area are good, providing a multitude of invaluable services for all parents and families, including:</p>
<ul>
<li>almost all centres are offering stay and play services - providing stimulating and challenging activities for young children</li>
<li>over 90% of centres offer individual home-based family support - reaching out to those parents most in need</li>
<li>81% are offering activities and hobbies for parents</li>
<li>three-quarters are offering health checks for parents and their children - ensuring they are growing up fit and healthy</li>
<li>around two-thirds of centres provide breastfeeding support for new mothers</li>
</ul>
<p>The report comes as Ofsted is considering how the inspection framework can be changed with the aim of overhauling and modernising the way they look at these centres.</p>
<p>There are currently over 3,000 children’s centres open across the country, providing tailored and specialist services for local parents and children, with a further 531 additional premises providing children’s centre services as part of a network. Centres are inspected individually or in small groups, with each centre receiving its own rating on services provided as well as the quality of management.</p>
<p>Ofsted is now planning to inspect all the children’s centres in each local authority area together as well as local authority oversight to make sure all children are being supported. It will consult on the new approach later in the year - helping ensure that all centres tailor services that meet the needs of local families.</p>
<p>The government wants children’s centres to reach out to local parents, improving outcomes for both young children and their families by supporting child development, boosting parenting skills and improving health and life chances.</p>
<p>This is just one of many government reforms to improve support for all children - no matter what their starting point in life.</p>
<p>The government is also extending free early education to around 260,000 disadvantaged 2-year-olds, and has:</p>
<ul>
<li>increased free early education for 3- and 4-year-olds to 15 hours a week</li>
<li>encouraged schools to offer more childcare</li>
<li>made it easier for good and outstanding childminders to offer free early education</li>
</ul>
<h2 id="notes-to-editor">Notes to editor</h2>
<ol>
<li>Read ‘<a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/evaluation-of-childrens-centres-in-england-ecce">Evaluation of children’s centres in England interim findings</a>’.</li>
<li>There are 3,019 children’s centres open across the country with 531 additional sites as part of a network. Funding for early education and intervention has also increased from £4.3 billion in 2011 to 2012 to £4.6 billion in 2014 to 2015.</li>
</ol>
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</div>tag:www.gov.uk,2005:SpeechPresenter/2401232014-06-06T14:53:13+01:002014-06-06T14:53:13+01:00Speech: Elizabeth Truss on increasing the number of pupils studying MandarinEducation Minister Elizabeth Truss speaks about increasing the number of children studying Mandarin.<div class="govspeak"><p>I am absolutely delighted to be here at the Confucius Institute to open today’s conference and see Minister Counsellor Shen Yang and colleagues from Peking University supporting the conference.</p>
<p>It’s fair to say that the Confucius Institute has made very strong progress, and I’d like to congratulate Chris Husbands and Katharine Carruthers for their work in getting this off the ground.</p>
<p>After all that is in the very spirit of Confucius himself - born in 551 BC - who believed in persistence and hard work, in the importance of education and self improvement. Even though it was important then, it’s even more important now - in the age of technology - where we know that education is becoming vital to our future society and economy. It is important that the belief in the power of education is widespread and applied to every child.</p>
<p>Earlier this year I visited China for the first time - Wuhan, Shanghai and Beijing. Some decide to visit the Great Wall. Others go to see the Bund. I decided to visit maths classes.</p>
<p>Amazingly, maths classes are not on TripAdvisor’s list of attractions. I and the delegation of teachers and experts that I brought from England found them fascinating.</p>
<p>I was struck by the strong belief in the importance of persistence - the idea that all students could and would master the core ideas of each subject, even if they needed a little more time to get there.</p>
<p>I also noted the systematic way that teachers sought to learn and improve their practice.</p>
<p>I was delighted that the headteachers on the visit who are some of the best in the country - felt that they could learn from the approaches use as well as work in partnership with their Chinese counterparts.</p>
<h2 id="the-importance-of-mastery">The importance of mastery</h2>
<p>This idea of mastery is starting to take hold in classrooms in England. Led by evidence of what works, teachers and schools have sought out these programmes and techniques that have been pioneered in China and East Asia.</p>
<p>At Westminster Academy, for example, they have transformed the way they teach through the Singapore approach - its bar method which imparts a deep understanding of number and the practice of whole-class teaching with regular feedback to pick up students who don’t understand.</p>
<p>With the Ark Schools Maths Mastery programme, more than 100 primary and secondary schools have joined forces to transform their pupils’ experiences of maths - and more are joining all the time. It’s a whole school programme focused on setting high expectations for all pupils - not believing that some just can’t do it. The programme has already achieved excellent results in other countries.</p>
<p>In the past, there has been too much what I call ‘false differentiation’, where different parts of the class are taught different things. Where a failure to get a concept or understand an idea would mean a student being put on a different track rather than being given the practice and assistance to catch up. Where material was sometimes covered superficially rather than properly understood and consolidated. This had the effect of diminishing the reach of good teaching whilst allowing children to fall behind. Expectations for too long were too low.</p>
<p>Far too often in this country, some children have been written off. We hear talk of a ‘forgotten 50%’. The idea of a ‘scrapheap’ has become a cliché in its own right.</p>
<p>In some of our best classrooms and in China, there is no assumption, from the off, that some should be separated and given less demanding work. Chinese teaching combines very high expectations of students with sharp accountability for teachers and strong analysis of why students didn’t understand the work and how they could be helped to keep up with the rest of the class.</p>
<p>As the Confucius saying goes: “It does not matter how slowly you go so long as you do not stop.”</p>
<p>Another key feature is the belief in continuous improvement. Through teacher researchers - teaching techniques are evaluated and honed and best practice shared between teachers.</p>
<p>The success of this approach cannot be just seen in Shanghai’s results but also in Singapore, Korea and elsewhere.</p>
<p>Through maths hubs and Confucius classrooms - 2 complementary programmes that involve in depth work and close collaboration with China - we can benefit from this approach. It’s not about cherry-picking methods or techniques. It is the underlying philosophy that is so vital.</p>
<h2 id="maths-hubs">Maths hubs</h2>
<p>We are setting up 30 maths hubs across the country. There has been huge interest from schools, with hundreds of applications from the top schools in the country.</p>
<p>With these innovative hubs, we want to improve the quality of maths teaching across the country, to transform the way maths is taught by learning from the very best around the world, and to dramatically increase the number of young people continuing to study maths beyond 16.</p>
<p>We are working with schools in Shanghai and Shanghai University on a programme to achieve this.</p>
<p>From September, 2 teachers from every hub, starting with primary schools, will spend time in Shanghai schools experiencing their outstanding practice first hand. And top maths teachers from Shanghai will then be embedded in English schools to support them in transforming the way they teach maths.</p>
<p>These hubs will commence operations from September, and every school in England will have access to their local hub for advice and expertise.</p>
<h2 id="confucius-programme">Confucius programme</h2>
<p>And we’re taking steps to ensure that more English children than ever before can learn Mandarin. Think of the huge intellectual benefits.</p>
<p>It requires mastery of quite different sounds and script. Students have to hone their listening skills, and learn to decipher characters totally different to anything they’ve used before.</p>
<p>I was interested to see in China that children were learning both Pinyin and the characters of Mandarin. It is a difficult language even if you are a native speaker. But it opens the door to another world. Access to the largest consumer market on the globe. Business opportunities galore. About a quarter of all internet usage is already in Mandarin. Just a few weeks ago, the Chinese government launched its first-ever guide to expanding abroad, which focused on Britain as an outlet for high-quality investment.</p>
<p>A survey of businesses found that Mandarin came second only to French as a language skill they want in future employees.</p>
<p>That’s why the Prime Minister’s ambition to double the number of Mandarin learners by 2020 is so important.</p>
<p>That’s why I am delighted to support the <abbr title="Institute of Education">IoE</abbr> Confucius Institute - in partnership with Hanban - as “a world leading centre for Chinese outside China”. The Confucius Institute and its network of Confucius classrooms will put in place a strong infrastructure for Mandarin.</p>
<p>These plans will help to drive up the numbers of new Mandarin teachers trained by 2019 - so that as many as 160 graduates each year qualify.</p>
<p>As well as specialist teachers, we want to see an increase in other teachers who can offer Mandarin. Current plans mean the number of those teachers will rise to 1,200 by 2019, up from 263 last year.</p>
<p>This will mean the doubling the number of students taking Mandarin within 3 years and doubling it again within 6.</p>
<p>The new boost will bring a huge improvement on the current position. At the moment, only about 3% of primary schools, 8% of state secondary schools and 10% of independent schools offer pupils the opportunity to learn Chinese as a curriculum subject.</p>
<p>We are already seeing improvements.</p>
<p>While the <abbr title="The English Baccalaureate">EBacc</abbr> encourages pupils to take a language at <abbr title="General Certificate of Secondary Education">GCSE</abbr> - and we’ve seen an increase in Mandarin <abbr title="General Certificates of Secondary Education">GCSEs</abbr>, so that now about 3,000 pupils each year take the <abbr title="General Certificate of Secondary Education">GCSE</abbr>.</p>
<p>And we’ve also increased bursaries - so that we get the best Mandarin graduates into schools - with up to £20,000 available for teacher training for the best candidates.</p>
<h2 id="what-improvement-we-will-see">What improvement we will see</h2>
<p>We already see great work from the Confucius classrooms. From Northumberland to Southampton and from Plymouth to King’s Lynn - and from reception to sixth form - the work Confucius classrooms do, bringing expertise and support to other schools, is as valuable as the teaching they do in their own schools.</p>
<p>I recently visited the Confucius Classroom of the Year - at Dartford Grammar School - and saw a teacher called Paul Tyskerud teaching a class of 11-year-olds. It was nearly all conducted in Mandarin. The children were talking about which sort of pork noodles their grandmother preferred and were able to engage in conversation. All after only 2 terms of study.</p>
<p>Imagine if those students had started learning Mandarin at age 7, how fluent their Mandarin would be by age 11 and 16. That’s our intention with the new languages curriculum offering Mandarin from age 7. By the time they leave school they will be able to converse and do business. A huge asset.</p>
<h2 id="conclusion">Conclusion</h2>
<p>I hope that both the maths programmes and our work with the Confucius Institute will allow English and Chinese schools and teachers to work much more closely together - sharing techniques, sharing experience, combining the best of both countries to achieve more for everyone.</p>
<p>I know that there are elements of our education system which China is keen to learn from. And likewise, as I said earlier, I think there’s a lot we can learn from China. The belief in the power of education. That everyone can master both their subject and their own destiny. That we all have it in us to improve.</p>
<p>So thank you again for inviting me here today.</p>
<p>And I wish the Institute of Education Confucius Institute and all of the Confucius classrooms the very best of luck for the future.</p>
<p>Thank you.</p>
</div>tag:www.gov.uk,2005:NewsArticlePresenter/2392232014-06-03T16:58:51+01:002014-06-03T16:58:51+01:00Press release: Microsoft, Google and IBM to help train computing teachersGovernment announces 7 new programmes to train more than 45,000 computing teachers.<div class="govspeak"><p>Top computing firms including Microsoft, Google and IBM are joining forces with the government to train more than 45,000 teachers ahead of the introduction of the rigorous new computing curriculum in September - equivalent to around 2 teachers for every school in England.</p>
<p>It is the latest scheme to complement more than £3 million worth of support from the Department for Education (<abbr title="the Department for Education">DfE</abbr>) to schools. So far nearly 7,000 teachers have already received training from the network of 400 ‘master teachers’ established by the British Computer Society (<abbr title="British Computer Society">BCS</abbr>), while Computing at School (<abbr title="Computing at School">CAS</abbr>) is running workshops to help train primary teachers. There are currently more than 15,000 <abbr title="information technology">IT</abbr> teachers in secondary schools.</p>
<p>This latest project sees <abbr title="the Department for Education">DfE</abbr> and leading tech firms, alongside organisations including the <abbr title="British Computer Society">BCS</abbr>, University of Hertfordshire, Code Club and Oxford University, funding 7 new training projects.</p>
<p>These initiatives will provide a mix of national conferences, 1-day events, individual training sessions, and resources including 2 computing curriculum guidance books for every secondary school in England.</p>
<p>The projects are the result of a £500,000 match fund launched by <abbr title="the Department for Education">DfE</abbr> in February. Industry groups and computing organisations were invited to submit proposals for training projects that would be match-funded by the government.</p>
<p>Microsoft provided £284,000 for a joint project with the <abbr title="British Computer Society">BCS</abbr> and <abbr title="Computing at School">CAS</abbr> to expand a network of computing hubs and schools to provide training for 30,000 primary teachers and 12,000 secondary teachers.</p>
<p>Another project is backed by £52,500 from Oxford University’s philosophy and computer science faculties, the university’s Van Houten Fund and a private philanthropist. This scheme will provide resources and offer training to secondary school teachers in how to use 2 popular software systems, developed at Oxford, that will help them run coding and computer science lessons for students.</p>
<p>The match fund programme is the latest initiative by the government working with the computer industry to ensure teachers at primary and secondary level have the right support and are equipped with the skills they need to teach the new curriculum.</p>
<p>Education Minister Elizabeth Truss said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Our new computing curriculum will excite children about the endless potential of technology and give them the skills they need to make that technology work for them. That’s vital in the 21st century and could help them go on to create the next big app.</p>
<p class="last-child">But great teachers are a key part of this and that’s why we are continuing to work with the industry and computer experts to invest in our teachers and make sure they are ready to open up this exciting world to our children.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The new, more demanding computing curriculum was drawn up in conjunction with teachers and experts including the <abbr title="British Computer Society">BCS</abbr> and the Royal Academy of Engineering, with input from Microsoft, Google and leaders in the computer games industry.</p>
<p>The new forward-thinking curriculum, which is already being taught in some schools, will teach children the skills they need to succeed in the 21st century and make computers work for them.</p>
<p>Starting in primary school, children will be taught how to code, create programmes and understand how a computer works. In secondary school, they will learn even more complex skills such as how to use at least 2 programming languages to solve computational problems.</p>
<p>Michel Van der Bel, Managing Director of Microsoft UK, said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Young people have grown up with technology at their fingertips and they have a natural enthusiasm for it. But if we want the next technology success story to be based in Britain, then we need teachers who have the right skills and the confidence to encourage, support and enable them to do so.</p>
<p class="last-child">Industry support is vital to help bring the curriculum to life, which is why Microsoft has partnered with the Computing At School group to deliver a series of personal training sessions and to develop a suite of online training materials as teachers get ready for those first lessons.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Mike Warriner, UK Engineering Director at Google, said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The UK has a proud computing history, but with more and more industries wanting computer scientists, coding has never been in more demand. It’s great that teachers will be trained with the skills they need to teach children from a young age and hopefully inspire the next generation of developers and programmers.</p>
<p class="last-child">We’re passionate about this area too and we have already donated £120,000 to Code Club as well as around £1,000,000 over the last year to support other organisations like Teach First and the Raspberry Pi Foundation to help education experts bring computer science skills to more children in the UK.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The first 7 projects range from major national projects helping thousands of teachers around the country to programmes which will provide bespoke, personalised training to teachers across London.</p>
<p>The projects are:</p>
<ul>
<li>
<p>the <abbr title="British Computer Society">BCS</abbr>, <abbr title="Computing at School">CAS</abbr> and Microsoft will create another 100 <abbr title="Computing at School">CAS</abbr> hubs, where teachers and lecturers meet to share ideas for developing the teaching of computing in schools, and another 250 lead schools for their Network of Excellence to train teachers across England. This brings the total of hubs and lead schools to 200 and 500 respectively, allowing them to help up to 30,000 primary teachers and 12,000 secondary teachers understand how they can go about designing, developing and delivering their own teaching and learning resources for the new computing curriculum. <abbr title="the Department for Education">DfE</abbr> has provided £150,000 for this project with a further £284,000 provided by Microsoft</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Edge Hill University will use its funding to develop teacher training resources and deliver 4 national conferences as well as 80 full-day training events for a network of at least 400 teachers across 4,000 primary and secondary schools. <abbr title="the Department for Education">DfE</abbr> has provided £49,316 with £10,000 provided by Rising Stars and £39,316 from Promethean</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>the project funded by Oxford University, will help teachers and pupils in bridging the gap between block-based programming languages and code-based languages such as Java or Python, which are used by industry. It will offer training to 170 Computing At School master teachers in 2 complementary software systems - the Turtle System and GeomLab. Those master teachers will then share that training with more than 750 secondary school teachers. Resources including an online web community will also be provided. Oxford University’s faculties of computer science and philosophy, the university’s Van Houten Fund and a private philanthropist have provided a total of £52,500, which has been matched by £52,500 from <abbr title="the Department for Education">DfE</abbr></p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Code Club Pro will train nearly 3,000 primary teachers through a national programme of computing teacher training. Volunteer expert trainers and teachers who have received an additional 16 hours of training will be recruited to run it. Google has provided £10,000 for the project alongside £25,000 from ARM, £10,000 from Postcode Anywhere, and £41,314 from <abbr title="the Department for Education">DfE</abbr></p>
</li>
<li>
<p>the University of Hertfordshire will provide every secondary school in England with at least 2 hard copies of a comprehensive secondary computing curriculum guidance document, as well as access to an online version of the guidance provided as an eBook. This will be the first time free resources of this type will have been delivered to all secondary schools. The project is funded by £15,000 from the Raspberry Pi Foundation and £15,000 from <abbr title="the Department for Education">DfE</abbr></p>
</li>
<li>
<p>the London Connected Learning Centre (<abbr title="Connected Learning Centre">CLC</abbr>) will provide tailored computing teacher training to 10 primary and secondary schools. Computer scientists and other technologists will also lead seminars at the schools to help teachers better understand how computing is used so they can put the subject into a real-world context for students. Resources will then be shared with more than 60 schools in the <abbr title="Connected Learning Centre">CLC</abbr>’s London network. The project has been backed with £15,000 from IBM and £15,000 from <abbr title="the Department for Education">DfE</abbr> funding</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Beautiful Education will provide personalised training programmes for 30 teachers at 10 secondary schools in Hackney to help build up the skills they need to deliver the new curriculum. The Hackney Learning Trust has provided £15,000 for the programme which has been matched by the <abbr title="the Department for Education">DfE</abbr></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p>In total, the organisations have provided £426,500, alongside £338,000 from <abbr title="the Department for Education">DfE</abbr>.</p>
<p>Introducing children to computing and coding from an early age is all part of the government’s long-term plan to ensure young people have the first-class education they need to succeed, and make sure Britain leads the global race in innovation.</p>
<p>These latest projects will complement ongoing work by government to train teachers in how to deliver the new curriculum.</p>
<p>These include:</p>
<ul>
<li>providing the <abbr title="British Computer Society">BCS</abbr> with more than £2 million to set up a network of 400 ‘master teachers’ to train teachers in other schools and provide resources for use in the classroom</li>
<li>providing £1.1 million to Computing at School to help train primary teachers already working in the classroom through online resources and school workshops</li>
<li>increasing bursaries for those wanting to become computing teachers. Scholarships of £25,000 - backed by Microsoft, Google, IBM and Facebook - are being offered to computer science teachers</li>
</ul>
<p>A second round of bidding has now opened for organisations to bid for further grants from the programme. Bidders must have sponsors willing to provide at least 50% of funding for projects. This will be matched by <abbr title="the Department for Education">DfE</abbr>.</p>
<p>Successful bids must demonstrate how their support will have a positive impact on the quality of teaching of computing in schools. Innovative and creative solutions are encouraged. For details of how to bid go to the <a rel="external" href="https://online.contractsfinder.businesslink.gov.uk/Common/View%20Notice.aspx?site=1000&amp;lang=en&amp;NoticeId=1414474">Contracts Finder</a> or <a rel="external" href="http://www.fundingcentral.org.uk/">Funding Central</a> websites.</p>
<div class="contact " id="contact_997">
<div class="content">
<h3>
<abbr title="the Department for Education">DfE</abbr> enquiries</h3>
<div class="vcard contact-inner">
<div class="email-url-number">
<p class="tel">
<span class="type">Central newsdesk</span>
020 7783 8300
</p>
<p class="tel">
<span class="type">General enquiries</span>
0370 000 2288
</p>
</div>
</div>
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</div>
</div>tag:www.gov.uk,2005:SpeechPresenter/2360032014-05-16T15:49:00+01:002014-05-16T15:49:00+01:00Speech: Elizabeth Truss emphasises the importance of technology and mathsEducation Minister Elizabeth Truss speaks at The Future of Growth Summit. <div class="govspeak"><p>I am a great believer that more than almost anything else - what happens in classrooms today - the core education children get - will have the greatest impact on our future growth.</p>
<p>You might say - I would say that wouldn’t I - as an education minister.</p>
<p>But the evidence is there.</p>
<p>The correlation between international test scores at age 15 and economic growth has increased by a third in the last few decades.</p>
<p>Forty years ago, you could maybe have argued our economy was essentially static.</p>
<p>Most people expected a single career - and even employer - for most of their working lives. You might move around, and move up: but for many, the shape of their lives was influenced by your background, your local industries, your local economy.</p>
<p>That’s changed.</p>
<p>Now, with technology, and globalisation, the jobs market is much more fluid, and much more dynamic.</p>
<p>We’re collaborating and competing not just within our own borders - but across the world - and not just with other people - but with ever-more powerful computers and machines.</p>
<p>Because if we’re a highly educated society - we can take advantage of these big, sweeping trends.</p>
<p>This means that now there’s no longer any fixed limit on the number of high-end jobs that can be created and located in Britain.</p>
<p>Now, the freedom and fluidity of technology means anyone with the right skills can go on to create products and services that people want.</p>
<p>Now, there’s no reason why all our children shouldn’t go on and live and earn well.</p>
<p>One of the effects of new technology is that maths skills are more and more important - in every sector, from marketing to manufacturing. They bring analytical, reasoning and research skills that are vital in new innovations.</p>
<p>Maths has the highest earnings premium - up to 10% at A level - evidence of the huge demand - and employers consistently say they need skilled, maths-savvy staff. Careers in science and technology pay 20% more than average.</p>
<p>That’s why we recently launched the Your Life campaign last week with the Chancellor. The campaign is led by Edwina Dunn and a group of innovators in technology, engineering, finance and numerous other fields.</p>
<p>They want to see a 50% increase in the numbers of students taking physics and maths A level within 3 years.</p>
<p>They treat young people as masters of their own destiny. It targets students as decision-makers about their own career.</p>
<p>It is unashamedly aspirational: telling them the earnings potential and career success that maths can give.</p>
<p>And just as important, it doesn’t treat maths and science as subjects only necessary to go into scientific careers.</p>
<p>It pitches them as essential for success in any number of walks of life - because of that changing economy. Like Edwina Dunn, who pioneered Tesco’s Clubcard. Sarah Wood, who runs a viral marketing agency. Eben Upton, who invented Raspberry Pi, a new type of computer, and jets between Sheffield and Silicon Valley.</p>
<p>Or engineers like Roma Agrawal, who helped build the Shard. Or the 17-year-old Nick D’Aloisio, who sold an app to Yahoo! - who unfortunately couldn’t attend the launch because he was, in fact, sitting his A levels.</p>
<p>And that breadth is equalled in the organisations supporting the campaign.</p>
<p>From Airbus to Facebook, L’Oreal to Lloyds, it’s an impressive list of household names from every sector.</p>
<p>As well as changing students’ perceptions - we want to see these important subjects brought to life in schools through practical work and links to the exciting developments in business.</p>
<p>That’s what the new maths and physics chairs programme is about. Organisations like Samsung and GlaxoSmithKline are providing a salary uplift to recruit postgraduate specialists in maths and physics into schools.</p>
<p>These chairs inject their enthusiasm and subject expertise into schools - to raise standards and get children excited about maths and physics.</p>
<p>The new chairs will provide masterclasses, online lesson demonstrations. They will help link the classroom to business and universities and complement other great programmes like stimulating physics and maths hubs.</p>
<p>Recruitment is already underway, and the first chairs will be in classrooms from this autumn. In due course we want to see hundreds recruited. And we’re looking for more businesses to come and support them.</p>
<p>It’s a sign that in today’s economy, and for tomorrow’s growth - maths is absolutely essential.</p>
<p>If we get it right, the opportunity is huge.</p>
<p>And the next time the Growth summit comes around, who knows what technologies will have been invented.</p>
<p>Maybe we’ll all arrive in driverless cars, sit down with screens implanted on our contact lenses, hear talks from holograms - who knows?</p>
<p>But if we want our children to be involved in that future - to lead it, to create and thrive and invent - then we need the core education in maths and science to be world class.</p>
<p>Thank you. And I look forward to a good Q and A.</p>
</div>